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LGBT Postcards From Netroots Nation

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My better half, Caleb Eigsti, and I just finished a week in Las Vegas, where we attended our first Netroots Nation. The conference claims it “amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate.” In reality, it was a swarming of over 2100 progressive activists, organizations, writers, and bloggers, who descended upon Sin City to talk shop, create new alliances, and rekindle old friendships.

(On Twitter, however, Netroots Nation, better known as #NN10, was an opportunity for the Ridiculous Right, especially, “#TCOT,” to lie and snark all weekend long. It’s truly amazing how disgusting, asinine, and juvenile our adversaries are!)

Netroots Nation this year was held at the Las Vegas Rio, which had a nice pool with nice fruity drinks…

but terrible Internet service…

Caleb and I spent an evening in Paris — the Paris Las Vegas! — where we won BIG MONEY!

Then, after Netroots Nation finished on Saturday, Caleb and I took a mini-vacation. I originally started writing this on Sunday from our room at the Bellagio, which offered an amazing view…

and amazing raspberry-stuffed french toast!

Now, it’s the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I’m on a plane (jetBlue!) sitting next to my partner, and trying to take all my thoughts and feelings about our first Netroots Nation conference and give you the “big picture” take-aways.

I confess I was surprised at the relatively small number of members of the LGBT community who attended, although I’m told it was our “best” showing ever. That concerns me.

Next year’s Netroots Nation has already been announced. It will be in June, in Minneapolis, where it’s cooler!…

… than Las Vegas’ 107 degree heat!

It was great to finally meet so many notables from our community, including The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld, Pam Spaulding and Autumn Sandeen of Pam’s House Blend, Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper, and (yeah!) my (awesome!) Change.org editor, Michael A. Jones, as well as say hello to some amazing friends (all icons!) like Mike Rogers, Freedom to Marry’s Evan Wolfson, NGLTF’s Inga Sarda-Sorensen, Joe Jervis, aka, Joe.My. God, and GetEqual co-founder Robin McGehee.

Caleb and I attended many of the LGBT panels and caucuses. Most of our focus was on the issue of marriage, but we definitely noted some strong themes that ran throughout the entire conference.

Perhaps the most-repeated was the idea that all progressives need to work together, because we share the same ideals, and even if you don’t care about, say, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and even if I don’t care about, say, the environment (of course I do!,) we share the same adversaries/enemies, and we need to pool our resources and manpower (person-power?)

(Note: Read Caleb’s excellent takes on Netroots Nation: “Organizing Equality Under Obama, No Better Than Being Under Bush?” and “Marriage Equality Through A Netroots Nation Looking Glass.”)

As one speaker put it, the Tea Party has shown that they can easily switch from attacks on gays to attacks on blacks to attacks on Obama. We need to deploy the same flexibility and wide-reaching push-back skills.

So, after taking everything in and mulling it all over, here’s what I want you to know and to think about:

1.    Progressives, and perhaps especially LGBTs, seem beaten-down, though not, by any means, out. The LGBT leadership seemed especially focused on finding the positive in all the negatives, without changing gears or focus. It’s safe to say, from all I heard, that they are ready to continue our long slog at the same, slow pace, plodding along, offering little new tactics or strategy. This is a problem.

2.    I am, however, very pleased to finally see our leadership organizations working together. Long-time readers of this blog will know that I have respectfully chastised our leaders for not finding ways to work together. It would appear they have all now exchanged contact information!

3.    LGBT bloggers and activists need to now follow this lead and start working together. I’ve felt this way for a long time. Why don’t we share more information among ourselves, so we can be more efficient and effective in keeping our readers informed? Some of my LGBT blogging and activist friends have been very willing and ready to do this. Most recently, I’m thinking of Rod McCollum (Rod 2.0) and Scott Wooledge (DailyKos) with whom I worked on the sad, first anniversary of the murder of Seaman August Provost, and folks like Joe Jervis and David Mixner, who have been so supportive of me. (Thanks to you all!)

4.    You need to get (more) involved. Seriously. Whatever degree of involvement you have now, and I know for many readers of this blog you spend most of your waking hours “on patrol,” you need to step up the fight and get more of your friends, family, and co-workers working on our issues. There is no doubt in my mind that in just a very few short months, if Democrats don’t flood the polls, we will have given Congress — both houses — over to the GOP. That is unacceptable and cannot happen. If it does, we will have only ourselves to blame.

Again, you may remember the piece I wrote last summer over at Bilerico, “Fill The Void,” in which I warned that if we didn’t flood the media with positive news and information about LGBT issues, the right would “fill the void” with their lies and hate. That was one of the reasons we created, “The Great Nationwide Kiss-In.” It worked!

I want to challenge all my LGBT friends and allies to find ways to counteract the lies we know will be coming from the Right this August. With Congress in recess, they’ll have little to do and we can easily end up their target. Let’s take this opportunity this year to throw the first punch.

Next year, I truly want to see some things happen differently at Netroots Nation 2011. Primarily, I want more opportunities for the LGBT caucus to work together. I want our bloggers and activists and organizations locked in a room for a full day, sharing ideas and frustrations and coming up not only with ways to be more efficient and effective, but with actual strategies and focuses. There was a pre-Netroots day where 50+ bloggers got together, and Mike Rogers promises to open it up to many more next year.

I’ll leave you with one final thought: Regardless of what you call yourself, a progressive, a liberal, a Democrat, or someone with left-leaning tendencies, it is critical that we stand together now, and through November. Or surely, we will stand alone.

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News

‘She Kills People’: Trump Amps Up Attack on Cheney After Violent ‘Nine Barrels’ Rhetoric

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Donald Trump has extended his attack against one of his top political critics, Liz Cheney, falsely alleging late Friday afternoon the Republican former U.S. congresswoman “kills people.”

“She kills people. She wanted to, even in my administration she was pushing that we go to war with everybody and I said, ‘If you ever gave her a rifle and let her do the fighting, if you ever do that, she wouldn’t be doing too well,’ I will tell [you] right now,” Trump said during a campaign stop in Michigan, Politico reported (video below). “She’s a war hawk.”

The ex-president, whose rhetoric, critics say, is growing increasingly violent as Election Day approaches, also charged Cheney “wants to go kill people unnecessarily” and called her “a disgrace.”

There are no reports that Cheney, who also served as vice chair on the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, and has crossed the aisle to endorse and campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris, has ever killed anyone.

RELATED: ‘How Dictators Destroy Free Nations’: Trump Slammed for Suggesting Firing Squad for Cheney

“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrel shooting at her, okay? Let’s see how she feels about it,” Trump had said Thursday, speaking on a stage with far-right podcaster Tucker Carlson.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic presidential opponent, denounced the ex-president’s remarks Friday afternoon.

“This must be disqualifying,” she told reporters, CBS News reports. “Anyone who wants to be president of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president.”

In addition to Harris’s remarks, Trump has been widely condemned on the left for his violent remarks, which some claimed were a call for Cheney’s execution. The state attorney general in Arizona has opened an investigation into the ex-president’s comments to determine if it was a death threat, according to CNN.

“Trump’s use of violent language dates back to his first presidential campaign, in 2015 and 2016, when he suggested a heckler deserved to be “roughed up” and said he’d like to punch another in the face,” CNN also reported. “Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote in his memoir that while in office, Trump raised the idea of shooting protesters who took to the streets around the White House after the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

READ MORE: ‘Don’t Fall for This’: Vance’s ‘Normal Gay Guy Vote’ Claim Mocked, Criticized as ‘Gross’

“’Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?’ Trump asked, according to Esper.”

Earlier on Friday after massive condemnation Trump appeared to try to clarify his comments, a rare response when under fire.

Despite telling supporters in Michigan that Cheney “kills people,” on his Truth Social website he wrote: “All I’m saying about Liz Cheney is that she is a War Hawk, and a dumb one at that, but she wouldn’t have ‘the guts’ to fight herself.”

Watch Trump’s remarks from Michigan below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Embarrassing’: JD Vance’s Story About How He Responded to Trump Shooting Sparks Concerns

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News

‘Showing Up’ and ‘Coming Together’: Harris Talks ‘Enthusiasm,’ Campaign Highlights ‘Momentum’

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Vice President Kamala Harris is expressing cautious optimism in the final days of the 2024 presidential race, saying voters are “showing up,” and she is “seeing an incredible amount of enthusiasm from people of every walk of life.”

“What I’m enjoying the most about this moment is that in spite of how my opponent spends full time trying to divide the American people, what I’m seeing is people coming together under one roof who seemingly have nothing in common, and know they have everything in common,” the Democratic presidential nominee told reporters Friday afternoon (video below). “And I think that is in the best interest of the strength of our nation.”

Vice President Harris and her campaign have been focused, deliberate, and on-message since she began running for president just 103 days ago. Earlier this week, campaign manager and co-chair Jen O’Malley Dillion sought to tamp-down fears and anxiety from Harris’ supporters in a three-minute video acknowledging that the “race is going to be extremely close,” and “we still have a lot of work to do,” while saying, “we’re on track to win a very close election,” and “we feel really good with what we’re seeing.”

READ MORE: ‘Don’t Fall for This’: Vance’s ‘Normal Gay Guy Vote’ Claim Mocked, Criticized as ‘Gross’

Early Friday afternoon the campaign became a bit less tight-lipped, appearing to “leak” to reporters a somewhat more optimistic view of the election.

“Senior Harris campaign staff say their internal data shows Harris winning battleground state voters who have made up their minds in the last week by double-digit margins. They say that Trump’s MSG [Madison Square Garden] rally was the ‘last straw’ for late-breaking undecided voters,” TIME’s Charlotte Alter reported.

“Top Harris brass says their organizing operation has knocked on 13 million doors across the battleground states. In October, they made 100m [100 million] calls into battleground states,” Alter wrote. “In PA alone, their team is on track to knock 5m doors and have 1m conversations with voters by election day.”

“Top campaign staff believe Harris’s momentum is [because] of the work they’re putting in, but also [because] Trump’s MSG fiasco has broken through to late-breaking undecided voters. The MSG rally has sharpened the contrast and reminded voters what Trump is like.”

Meanwhile, Harris campaign senior advisor David Plouffe, who ran Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign and became his White House senior advisor, offered additional insight.

“It’s helpful, from experience, to be closing a Presidential campaign with late deciding voters breaking by double digits to you and the remaining undecideds looking more friendly to you than your opponent. Close race, turnout and 4 days of hard work will be key. But good mo,” he wrote, appearing to mean “momentum.”

Former journalist and retired pundit Craig Crawford responded with data from Gallup:

“Voter enthusiasm is high, with Democrats more enthusiastic than Republicans,” Gallup reported Thursday. “Democrats maintain elevated election enthusiasm, at 77%, compared with 67% among Republicans.”

“Momentum” appears to be the key word for the Harris campaign and supporters as Election Day fast approaches.

READ MORE: ‘How Dictators Destroy Free Nations’: Trump Slammed for Suggesting Firing Squad for Cheney

Harris campaign surrogate, Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, talked about “momentum” on CNN Thursday night:

Neera Tanden, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council noted on Thursday, “Lots of interesting endorsements today. You can feel the momentum.”

On Wednesday Harris spokesperson Ian Sams also talked about “momentum.”

Watch the video of Harris below, additional videos above, or all at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Embarrassing’: JD Vance’s Story About How He Responded to Trump Shooting Sparks Concerns

 

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COMMENTARY

‘Don’t Fall for This’: Vance’s ‘Normal Gay Guy Vote’ Claim Mocked, Criticized as ‘Gross’

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Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance’s claim that he and his running mate, Donald Trump, will likely win the votes of the “normal gay guy” is being mocked, with some pointing to his stated opposition to same-sex marriage protection legislation. But in full context, it’s being called out as divisive against the LGBTQ+ community, and “gross.”

“And I think that frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if me and Trump won just the normal gay guy vote, because, again, they just wanted to be left the hell alone, and now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it,” Vance says in a short clip from his interview Thursday with podcaster Joe Rogan.

Democratic strategist Matt McDermott weighed in, writing, “Not sure what a ‘normal’ gay guy is, but speaking as a fairly typical gay guy I can confirm that myself, my husband, and literally every gay guy I know will proudly be voting for Kamala Harris and rejecting your grotesque bigotry.”

READ MORE: ‘How Dictators Destroy Free Nations’: Trump Slammed for Suggesting Firing Squad for Cheney

Author and activist Chasten Buttigieg, who is married to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, appeared to mock Vance’s remarks:

“Sorry wasn’t on here to see JD Vance’s latest gaffe. My husband and I were taking our kids trick-or-treating. In our minivan. With costumes from Target. Anyway, have you made a plan to knock doors for Kamala Harris this weekend?”

CNN’s Anderson Cooper led a panel Thursday night and mocked Vance’s remarks, saying, “I guess gay people are now accepted,” and called it “sort of progress.”

Mark McDevitt, Chief of Staff to U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) wrote: “It’s rich to hear JD Vance try to talk about ‘normal gay guys’ as if he hasn’t spent years pushing the idea that being gay alone is abnormal and immoral. Now he wants to move the goal post to create divisions within our community. It’s gross.”

“A good reminder that solidarity is so important,” McDevitt added. “They will not spare the so called ‘normal gay guys’ when they come to dismantle the rights of the LGBTQ community. Don’t fall for this crap.”

READ MORE: ‘Embarrassing’: JD Vance’s Story About How He Responded to Trump Shooting Sparks Concerns

Author Lucas Schaefer noted, “What Vance is actually saying by ‘normal gay guy,’ from what I can tell, is ‘not trans’ but as anyone with a sense of history knows, after they destroy trans lives they’re coming for the rest of us. The acronym is fitting; we rise or fall together.”

Indeed, in context, according to a transcript, Vance’s remarks are exceptionally divisive and destructive.

He goes from talking about “the Nashville shooter,” who “went in and murdered a bunch of children at a Christian school because he or she, like whatever, was motivated by some very radical trans ideology. And that is something we should talk more about as a country,” to “these signs that are in super woke neighborhoods, I’m sure there’s plenty of them in Austin, like, ‘in this house, we believe science is real,'” to someone who is a “pro-gay rights guy,” who “sort of made the observation that when you get into the really radical trans stuff, you actually start to notice the similarities between a practiced religious faith and what these guys are doing.”

As the conversation continues, Vance says, “I’ll never forget,” a gay friend of his, “sent me something like six or so years ago. And it was Elizabeth Warren when she was running for president and she was like, ‘we stand for all non-binary two-spirit’ and all of the like, the LGBTI plus. She was talking about all the plus and she was codifying it. And he sent me this text message with this Elizabeth Warren tweet. And he’s like, I don’t know what the hell two-spirit is. We just wanted to be left the hell alone. And I think that, frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if me and Trump won just the normal gay guy vote, because again, they just wanted to be left the hell alone, and now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it that they’re like, we didn’t wanna give pharmaceutical products to nine-year-olds who are transitioning their genders.”

The Harris campaign took a swipe at Vance by posting the Rogan clip and Vance’s remarks at a debate where he says he’s “come out against” a marriage equality bill.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Nauseous’: Trump’s Refusal to Grasp ‘Consent’ Revives ‘Access Hollywood’ Scandal

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